Is SORA West Going to Break Ground This Year?

Over the past two days, two employees of tenants within the redevelopment area of SORA West have contacted MoreThanTheCurve.com to tell us that their companies have received notices that they will need to move out of their office space within nine months.

SORA West is a redevelopment project from Keystone Property Group that encompasses the area between West Elm Street and West First Avenue, between Fayette Street and Robinson Alley. As approved, it is a new hotel, two larger office buildings to replace existing ones, a larger parking deck to replace an existing one, a rehabbed former firehouse is to become a restaurant, and a public square. A residential component is also possible within the office buildings and retail/restaurants are planned for the ground floor.

This redevelopment was made possible through the creation of a new zoning district this past year by Conshohocken’s Borough Council. The Borough also sold the developer the land that is to be the location of the hotel, along with the old firehouse.

As we reported last week, SORA West is one of the finalists being considered by AmerisourceBergen for the home of its new corporate headquarters. Three other locations in Conshohocken are also on the list.

We asked Richard Gottleib, president and COO of Keystone Property Group, whether Keystone was moving towards breaking ground and received back a “no comment.”

Please note that this redevelopment has been public for a few years and the notices were not a surprise to the tenants. The story is that Keystone needs the buildings empty to knock them down and begin the redevelopment